For
the past 14 years, Eva Goldfarb has devoted her time and study to the
field of human sexuality. Her efforts were lauded recently when she received
an honorary doctorate of humane letters from the Starr King School for
the Ministry, the seminary for the Unitarian Universalist Association
(UUA) in Berkeley, Calif.
An assistant professor in Health
Professions, Physical Education, Recreation and Leisure Studies, Goldfarb
was awarded the honorary degree for her work on two groundbreaking sexuality
education curricula, one for grades four to six and one for grades 10
to 12 titled Our Whole Lives (OWL). The books were developed for use by
the UUA as well as secular communities, and represent two parts of a lifelong
curriculum series that includes grades K-1 and 7-9, as well as adults.
Goldfarb's co-author, Elizabeth Casparian, also received an honorary doctorate.
"We
wish to recognize and celebrate your groundbreaking work in creating sexuality
education for young people, grounded in progressive religious values,"
said Rebecca Parker, president of the Starr King School in conferring
the degrees. "We also wish to honor your witness to the creative
power of collaborative work, which your shared work represents. In creating
the Our Whole Lives curricula…you have rendered important service
to the advancement of liberal religious education, and have demonstrated
the wisdom and importance of empowering young people to know themselves
and their world in freedom."
The journey that led to the publication of OWL began in 1995 when the UUA hired Goldfarb and Casparian to write a high school sexuality education curriculum. The pair also developed an educational video that deals with important and potentially sensitive issues around sexuality and relationships. After its completion, the UUA asked the authors to write a new curriculum for upper elementary school children. "That project presented an even greater challenge because up to that point there was absolutely nothing written for children at that age that deals with important issues of sexuality," Goldfarb said. "There are puberty programs out there, but they don't even begin to address the multitude of issues that youngsters are dealing with every day. In our fourth- through sixth-grade curriculum, we felt it was important to tackle issues such as gender roles and identity, sexual orientation, sexual health and safety, family relationships and communication. And we didn't shy away from talking about reproduction and loving relationships."
These curricula filled such an important need that, in the end, the project evolved into a life-long series of five curricula designed for kindergarten through adulthood and involved three additional authors.
Goldfarb describes the series as "groundbreaking in that it represents the only life-long approach to comprehensive sexuality education that is committed to providing participants, young and old, with accurate, age-appropriate information regarding human sexuality."
Guided by the core values of self-worth, sexual health, responsibility, justice and inclusivity, the curricula's stated goals are to help participants to make informed and responsible decisions about their sexual health and behavior and to understand the spiritual, emotional and social aspects of sexuality. "It also treats young people with respect and trust," Goldfarb added. "OWL reflects our strongest belief that all people have the right to accurate information about sexuality and the tools to make informed decisions that are right for them."
Goldfarb explained that one reason for developing the OWL series was that existing programs in sexuality education focus almost exclusively on disease and pregnancy prevention. "In the present political climate, schools have been moving more and more toward abstinence-only programs that have not been shown to work," Goldfarb said. "Not only that, but young people are being deprived of access to information about, and support for, images of positive, healthy sexuality."
In her commencement address, Goldfarb told the graduates and their guests that the years she and her colleague spent writing these curricula became as much of a personal mission as a professional one. "We wanted to make sure that our own children would grow up in a world in which they would be free to express and celebrate their own unique sexualities openly, and would be appreciated and embraced for their unique, diverse contributions to society."
Goldfarb, who holds an earned doctorate in human sexuality education from the University of Pennsylvania, is editor of the book, Filling the Gaps, which addresses hard-to-teach topics in human sexuality, In addition, she and department colleague Joseph Donnelly are training director and principle investigator, respectively, on two sexuality education grants. Projects CARE and HOPE are funded through grants from the U.S. Office of Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention, and the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, respectfully. Goldfarb and Donnelly, co-principle investigators, recently were awarded a new contract from the state to train teachers, counselors and school nurses from the districts of Jersey City, Paterson and Newark in comprehensive sexuality education and HIV prevention.
Goldfarb said she is overwhelmed by the response her work
has generated. "One does not go into this field expecting many accolades
or expressions of appreciation," she said. "Usually I feel quite
embattled in my work, so it feels really good to know that I am not the
only person who thinks that what I am doing is important, good work."
Eva Goldfarb (right) recently received an honorary degree from the Unitarian Universalist Association Starr King School for the Ministry.